The traffic backups on Colo. 7 south of Erie can be epic at rush hour, with long lines of cars trying to snake their way toward Interstate 25 passing equally long lines of vehicles rolling slowly toward Lafayette.

The east-west highway is over capacity in most places, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation, as traffic counts approach 20,000 vehicles per day near the intersection with I-25 and come in around 17,000 vehicle per day at 111th Street.

But help is on the way, as transportation officials and local elected leaders push ahead with a plan to make improvements to the state highway between Lafayette and Brighton, after spending the last few months ironing out differences over alignments and intersections. A stakeholder meeting will be held Tuesday in Erie to go over the latest version of the overhaul.

"We're looking at capacity improvements," said Kirk Webb, National Environmental Policy Act program manager with CDOT. "We're looking at adding lanes to reduce congestion and get traffic moving better."

Hand in hand with the extra pavement, Webb said, would be the construction of dedicated bike lanes between County Line Road in Erie and I-25 to the east. Improvements for public transit, like queue jumps for buses, would also be made.

Planners are eyeing a new interchange at Colo. 7 and I-25, one that could take the shape of a half cloverleaf or a diverging diamond -- the same design being contemplated for McCaslin Boulevard, between Superior and Louisville.

A final report on the project, which is called the Colo. 7 Planning and Environmental Linkage Study, is due out in the spring.

But Webb cautioned that work on the ground won't go forward immediately, as funding has not yet been secured. The linkage study, he said, should lay the groundwork for getting the necessary environmental clearances and prove to potential funding sources that the project is viable.

"We're planning for the future," Webb said.

That future includes an explosion in the number of households in the corridor, from 16,000 in 2010 to 44,000 by 2035. Employment in the study area, CDOT says, will jump from nearly 13,000 jobs in 2010 to more than 55,000 in 2035.

Erie Mayor Joe Wilson said the negotiating his town did with Lafayette and Boulder County over the last few months resulted in a positive outcome for everyone. Nearly a year ago, there was a dispute between the city and town over how and where to realign Colo. 7 past Lafayette, with private property owners concerned that a new alignment would mean a taking of their land for the road.

That realignment idea has since been tabled, and instead, the municipalities plan to pursue their own intersection improvements to help provide alternate routes for motorists, depending on their final destination.

"Regardless of where you're going -- whether it's doing business in Erie, doing business in Lafayette or just moving from I-25 to Boulder, we've made it easier for you," Wilson said. "And no private property will be impaired by this thing."

Erie envisions a southern gateway to town at the intersection of County Line Road and Colo. 7, the mayor said. A grand roundabout might serve as the centerpiece.

"It would provide a direct route to our Four Corners area, which is the heart of Erie," Wilson said.

He also said Erie and Boulder County would likely enhance the intersections of Arapahoe and County Line roads and Arapahoe Road and 119th Street, as part of any changes to Colo. 7.

Lafayette Mayor Carolyn Cutler said her city's focus would be on constructing an entrance to Lafayette from the east, at 119th Street and Colo. 7. The city wants motorists to continue driving down Baseline Road to get to Old Town, but it doesn't want that to be the only obvious route to take. Finding a balance between excessive traffic on Lafayette's narrow, residential section of Colo. 7 and enough volume to keep the businesses happy is more an art than a science, Cutler said.

She's glad the city was able to work with Erie and the county in a cooperative way to ensure that everyone would share the traffic.

"If we're a healthy economy and Erie is a healthy economy, that's good for all of us," Cutler said.

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